Specker named Capital One Academic All-American

May 22, 2012

WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University senior Marianne Specker of South Windsor, Conn., been named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division III softball first team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA). This is her second year in a row as a Capital One Academic All-America first-team member.

Specker had an outstanding senior year for the Brandeis softball team. She was a first-team All-University Athletic Association selection as an infielder and a third-team All-New England selection. She finished tied for the UAA lead with 41 RBI and was among the top five in the league in batting average (.401) and hits (59).

Specker finished among the Judges' career top 10 in hits (184, 3rd), games played (166, 4th), games started (161, 4th), RBI (111, 4th), total bases (242, 6th) and doubles (34, 8th). The Judges posted a 27-18 record and were runners-up at the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England tournament.

In the classroom, she finished with a 3.92 grade-point average in psychology. Specker was also a Phi Beta Kappa member and vice president of Brandeis's chapter of the Psi Chi psychology honor society. She was a seven-time Dean's List and three-time Academic All-UAA selection. Specker was named Brandeis's Charles A. Napoli Scholar-Athlete and was a recipient of a Joseph M. Linsey Fellowship for postgraduate studies for a Brandeis student-athlete. She will attend Boston University's Ph.D program in sports psychology next year.

Specker is one of two Division III softball players to earn repeat first-team honors. She is the sixth person and second softball player in Brandeis history to earn two Academic All-America honors, and the first with two first-team selections. Brandeis has now had Academic All-Americans selected in each of the past four years and 22 overall.

Specker is a 2008 graduate of the Westminster School. She is the daughter of Ken and Carol Specker, Windsor, Conn.